


Be Whoever You Are

by aperfectpearl (dimensionhoppingrose)



Series: The Pearl Adventures [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Human AU, Mostly Fluff, Multi, Polyamory, Pride, Slight Transphobia, Slight acephobia, Trans Pearl (Steven Universe), polypearls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 13:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15664428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/aperfectpearl
Summary: -Human AU, Polypearls- Being yourself is hard in a crappy world. At least Pearl has two amazing girlfriends to help her through everything.





	Be Whoever You Are

**Author's Note:**

> I one thousand percent dropped the ball on Polypearl Bomb Week (I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS A THING UNTIL YESTERDAY I AM SO ASHAMED) so have this fluffy little thing to make up for it.
> 
> Completely unbeta-ed. Just a warning.

Pearl White had never been to Pride before. She knew her girlfriends had gone the year before, and they certainly seemed to be in their element.

“Just another man trying to take over women’s safe places,” an older woman sneered as she walked by Pearl, who all but wilted, arms crossing tight across her “ask me my pronouns” t-shirt.

“Come back and say that to our faces, bitch,” Morgan snapped, already storming to the woman. Skye grabbed her quickly, dragging her back.

“You can’t fight _every_ person who insults one of us.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Morgan, let it go,” Pearl mumbled, curling in tighter on herself. Seventeen and trying desperately to live in a body she hated, Pearl was hardly a man. But without medical assistance (and she laughed at the thought of talking to her about _that_ ) there was only so much she could to prove otherwise. She had borrowed a skirt from Jade, along with her pronouns t-shirt, and turned her hair pink, just for today – she was staying at Morgan’s that night and would wash it out before she went home, wearing jeans a plain old t-shirt and being the proper “boy” her mother had raised her to be.

Skye dragged Morgan back to her side and looped an arm around Pearl’s shoulders, pulling her close as well. “Come on, it’s Pearl first Pride,” she reminded Morgan patiently. “Don’t waste it trying to punch everyone.”

“I can’t help it that everyone is stupid,” Morgan insisted, pouting. Skye rolled her eyes, kissing Morgan’s cheek.

“You’re ridiculous. Pearl, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Pearl muttered, keeping her eyes on the ground. No. She desperately wanted to go home and wash the color out of her hair and just go back to pretending she was what she was supposed to be. She had accepted she was trans, and in some ways started embracing it, especially online where she was free to be whoever she wanted to be.

In the real world, however, the only people who knew were her best-friends-of-twelve-years-turned-girlfriends. And while they promised they loved her just as much as Pearl as they had as Alex, she was starting to think they were the only people in her actual life who would accept her. She had broached the topic with her mother, once, and had been immediately rebuked and informed if she started with “any of that crap” she’d be looking for a new place to live.

Needless to say, her mother didn’t know she was dating Skye and Morgan, either.

“What’s _that_?” A voice asked, drawing Pearl out of her brooding. Two men had stopped, and one was pointing at the black, purple, gray, and white-striped flag Morgan had thrown over Skye’s shoulders so she could wear it as a cape.

“It’s the asexual flag,” Skye said politely, fingering the place where she’d clipped it to hold it in place. One of the men rolled his eyes.

“That’s not even real. You just don’t want to put out.”

“That’s your opinion,” Skye said with the same, placid smile as she held Morgan back. She was better at taking the insults than Morgan, whose first response was _fight me I dare you_. Skye simply let it roll off her shoulders. She knew what she was, and if no one but her girlfriends accepted it, so be it. They were the only ones whose opinions actually mattered.

“ _God_ people are stupid!” Morgan burst out as Skye pulled them away from the men. Of the three of them, she probably had it easiest – bisexual with a strong preference for women (Pearl had been one of the few exceptions, before she had finally come to terms with the fact that she was not, in fact, a guy), and she had recently taken to just calling herself gay to save time and energy. Skye wore her bi-ace label proudly, and didn’t bother to argue about it.

And Pearl… Pearl was still figuring a lot of things out. She knew she was trans, she knew she liked she girls. But her confidence faltered every single time someone made a nasty comment about it. And there was no shortage of those, online or in the real world.

“Just let me punch _one_ person–”

“That almost got us kicked out last year,” Skye said patiently, squeezing Morgan’s hand. “Just ignore them. _We’re_ happy. That’s all that matters.”

Well, not all of them. Skye took her hand back from Morgan for a moment and stopped, cupping Pearl’s cheeks and kissing her gently. “Don’t listen to any of them,” she said, resting her forehead against Pearl’s. “You’re beautiful, and we love you, and nothing anyone else says matters. Okay?”

Pearl smiled softly and nodded, the pressure in her chest easing just slightly. Skye, and Morgan, in her own way, had a knack of making her feel better even when she was at her worst.

“Okay.”

They managed to have a good day, despite the rocky start. Morgan even got to punch someone when they made a rude comment about Pearl. Skye had quickly dragged them both away and they’d hid in a coffee shop for half an hour just to make sure no one was going to try and arrest Morgan.

It was four years before Pearl managed to go to another Pride. Her mother kicked her out when she was eighteen, after Pearl finally came out to her. She’d already arranged to live on campus anyways (in a single room, because living with a guy would have been horrible and live with a girl would have been scandalous and it was just easier to live alone), and Skye’s parents took pity on her and let her stay at their place until Pearl, Skye, and Morgan finally got their own place not long after turning twenty-one.

“No one will ever get me out of this bed,” Morgan groaned as Pearl and Skye unpacked around her.

“I mean, you’d probably get out pretty fast if it were on fire,” Skye said thoughtfully, tilting her head.

“Nope. This is exactly where I want to die.”

Pearl rolled her eyes, dropping onto the bed beside her. She had been on hormones for almost three years, and it showed in the soft roundness of her face, her smoother skin, her lips… she was almost happy with her body. If only she could afford surgery.

“Okay, you’re dramatic, but I see your point. This bed is wonderful.” She sighed, closing her eyes and letting her muscles relax for a minute, until Morgan rolled on top of her and started kissing her. “Was this is a trap?” Pearl murmured with a smile even as she returned the kiss.

“Yes. I talked up the bed so I could seduce you.”

Skye rolled her eyes, hanging up clothes. “I’m going to need to make a sign for the door so I don’t accidentally walk in on you two, aren’t I?”

“Possibly.”

Pearl finally felt confident enough to go back to Pride that year, walking between Morgan and Skye with her head held high. Skye had a _little_ too much fun with the face paint, drawing the trans flag on Pearl’s entire left cheek, but she wore it proudly. Skye and Morgan said it was cute, and really, that was all that mattered.

“Smile!” Skye said, holding out her phone. Pearl and Morgan groaned. “We’re commemorating this moment, deal with it. And _really_ smile, Morgan, not just that little smirk.”

“You’re so demanding.”

But all three put on grins for the camera – Pearl with her hair dyed a vibrant pink and the flag painted on her cheek, Morgan with her yellow hair and a t-shirt she’d had made that said “Ask me about my girlfriends,” and Skye with her blue hair and ace flag cape. It was possibly the best picture the three of them had ever taken together.

It was absolutely Pearl’s favorite.

**Author's Note:**

> Review please?


End file.
